Are there any areas or aspects of creativity that you’ve always wanted to explore but haven’t? What’s stopped you from exploring it? What do you think you would need in order to explore that aspect of creativity?

<aside> 💡 As we know, mental health affects everything in our lives and the honest truth is that when we’re not at our best, mentally, we can’t give our best, creatively. Reflect on how your mental health affects your creativity. Can you identify any specific aspects that either help or hurt your creativity? What are they?

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<aside> 💡 Your environment and creative atmosphere have a huge influence on your ability to create. Have you ever thought about or identified the ideal environment or atmosphere for you to be creative? Do you feel supported by your environment or those within it? What would make it better for you? What makes it worse?

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<aside> 💡 It would be great if the creative muses adhered to our preferred schedules and appeared when summoned, but that’s not the way it works! When you sit (or stand, walk, etc) to be creative, are you open and willing to receive inspiration? Are you compassionate with yourself when the muses are quiet? Have you told your inner critic that you’re allowed to go at your own pace, in your own time? Have you accepted that in order to be great at something, you must first be willing to be bad at it?

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<aside> 💡 #busy is the themed hashtag for all of us these days, but the truth is that if we are committed to ourselves and our creativity, we must make it a priority. That doesn’t mean carving out hours upon hours of time, though. It does mean setting aside a realistic, reasonable and doable amount of time to put yourself and your creativity first. If your creativity is important to you, this is a non-negotiable. You cannot produce anything without putting in the work. Have you identified what kind of time and brain space you can set aside for your creativity? Fifteen minutes? Half hour? Two to three hours on a weekend?

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<aside> 💡 Contrary to popular belief, there is never just “one” way to do things. Especially in creativity because by its very nature, it does not adhere to “rules.” However, there are similar kinds of approaches to creativity though modern society often places emphasis on one more than the other. Take a moment to read this article about rational writers and this article about intuitive writers and discern whether or not you feel more “Left-Brained/Rational” or “Right-Brained/Intuitive.” If you’re able to identify which approach is a better fit, you’ll be able to tailor your approach to creativity in a way that works best for you. Not in the way that everyone else says is “right.” Reflect on which approach seems to align with who you are best. Why does it seem to align with you?

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